Stabilizer bolster



July 30, 1935. E. GOODWlN 2,009,770

STABILIZER BOLSTER Filed April 17, 1951 INVENTOR 1:16. 600D W/N ATTORNEY Patented July 30, 1935 UNITED STATES STABILIZER BOLSTER Ernest G. Goodwin, Pelham, N. Y., assignor to Standard Coupler Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 17, 1931, Serial No. 530,944

19 Claims. (01. 105-186) This invention relates generally to means for eliminating the rocking and vertical jiggling as well as the accumulative rolling in railway vehicles and has for its principal object the incorporation of such means in a car without making any change in the truck side frame.

An important object is to provide an oscillation preventing bolster which may be substituted for almost any solid bolster now in common use on railway vehicles without in any way modifying the present structure of the side frames in the car trucks or altering the usual spring arrangement.

Another object is to provide means in the bolster itself to permit lateral motion of the car but at the same time to snub and reduce such motion to safe limits. This lateral snubbing action is produced within the bolster by the same means employed for preventing excessive vertical motion.

In carrying out the above and other objects of my invention I provide a bolster made of two parts comprising a lower or main part which is of standard bolster length and an upper or secondary part which is substantially shorter than and is carried within the lower part. The ends of the lower part are shaped to fit in the usual side frame wherein they are supported on springs as is the common practice, but between the two I ends the main bolster part is channel shaped with upwardly extending flanges and is substantially deeper than the ends in order to give the necessary strength as well as to receive the snubbing mechanism. The secondary or top part which carries the ordinary bolster ce nter plate as well as the side bearings, is narrow enough to fit between the flanges of the main bolster wherein it is supported at each end by a unit of said snubbing mechanism. This mechanism is of the general type described in my copending application SerialNo. 356,253 and therefore its theory of operation will not be set forth in detail in this application.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view partly in section showing one end of the bolster and part of a car truck.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken centrally of the bolster.

Figure 3 is a half transverse section taken thru the snubber.

Figure 4 is a half transverse section at the tie rod.

Figure 5 is a half section at the center plate.

The main bolster l0, supporting the secondary bolster ll, is-shown in Figures 1 and 2 as carried in the usual manner in the center of the side frame 12 where it engages a nest of truck springs I 4 beneath each standard shaped hollow end IS. The side frame l2, the springs l4 and the bolster ends I5, all being of a well known type, need no 5 further description. Between its two ends l5 the main bolster section I0 is channel or trough shaped having its upwardly extending flanges or sides externally reinforced by vertical ribs I6 and'horizontal ribs l1 and having at each end 10 two short parallel upward extensions l8 which are bridged by the integral transverse flange 19, the top of which is somewhat lower than the upper margins of the extensions. On the inside of the side flanges and of the integral members l5 I8 is a depression at each side for receiving a liner 2| held therein by rivets 22; the depression being deep enough to allow the friction surface of a liner of substantial thickness to be flush with the channel wall.

It has been found that rivets alone are unsatisfactory for holding the liners in position on a flat surface and it is for this reason that I provide the depression and cut the liners so that they'fit snugly therein on all sides thus providing an unyielding resistance against movement of the liners in any direction.

The top bolster I I is of the same general channel shape as the main bolster II) but has its reinforcing ribs 26 on the inside and is closed by a cover 21 which is integral with the sides as best shown in Figures 2 and 4. While the ends of the top bolster II are somewhat reduced the central portion, as will be seen from Figure 4, is wide enough to flt snugly between the walls of the main bolster l0 so that no motion longitudinally of the car is permitted, but considerable clearance is left between each end and the flange I!) to permit lateral motion. Midway of the bolster upper section the cover 21 is shaped to form the center plate 28 which is of the usual type and near each end the cover is provided with a rectangular boss or hollow frame 30 in which is held the side bearings 3| on shims 32. The top bolster is not entirely a closed box but has end openings 34 to facilitate casting, side openings 35 to accommodate the bolt 31 which ties together the side flanges of the main bolster section to prevent spreading, and a central opening 38 for theusual king pin. It will be noted in passing that since the bolt 31 also passes thru the openings 36 it holds the two bolsters together to form a single bolster unit that may be handled like the ordinary solid bolster.

The ends of the upper bolster section II, being V-sh aped in cross section, having two slanting surfaces 40 which indirectly engage correspondingly sloping faces 4| of the snubbing shoes 42, preferably thru rubber cushions altho rollers may be used, as fully set forth in my copending application. These shoes 42 are not only relatively movable with respect to surfaces 40 but also with respect to the liners 2| as well as the supporting rollers 43 which roll upon a spring cap 44 which in turn rests upon the springs 46 held in position by bosses 41 on the bottom 48 of the main bolster I0 and similar bosses on the cap. On each side of the spring cap 44 is provided a depending flange 45 which slides up and down between the guides 50 on the lower bolster section as the springs 46 contract and expand, these guides 50 preventing lateral movement of the spring cap 44. There is no restriction to the lateral motion -of the shoes other than the frictional resistance at the vertical and slanting surfaces.

Since the springs 46 are loaded serially with the standard set M they of course must be of about the same capacity as the latter in order to accomplish a maximum snubbing action. However, this arrangement gives a choice of either greater totalspring deflection of the car body or a material reduction of the travel of the standard set l4. Also in cases where the original travel is considered desirable the spring sets I4 may be replaced by sets having a travel, which when added to the travel of the bolster springs 46 will equal the original. It is obvious that my bolster may be used to give added snubbing action in car trucks which already have snubbers built in the side frames.

It will be readily appreciated from the above description that my invention provides a unitary flexible bolster that may be completely assembled at the factory and from there shipped to any point as a unit where it can be quickly substituted for any solid bolster in existing equipment without otherwise changing the construction of the car. It will also be seen that my invention pro- .vides an economical way for installing efficient snubbers in existing equipment without the usual loss of time required for installing other types which often require extensive remodeling of the car truck.

What Iclaim is:

1. A two part car bolster consisting of a lower part 01' standard length, an upper part, spring means between the two parts, the lower part being channel shaped with upwardly extending flanges, and a transverse bolt passing thru the flanges and the upper part whereby the latter is held in the lower part and the flanges are kept from spreading.

2. A two part car bolster consisting of a lower main part of standard bolster length and provided with the usual ends, a substantially shorter upper part provided with a center plate, spring means yieldingly supporting the upper part upon the lower part, and load' responsive snubbing means held in constant engagement with the lower main part for dampening relative movement of the two parts.

3. A two part car bolster consisting of a lower part and an upper part, the said lower part being substantially as long as the car axle and provided with ends shaped to fit in the usual side frame of a car truck, means for preventing relative motion between the parts in a direction longitudinally of the car, and snubbing means between the two parts located under each end of the upper part for dampening vertical as well as lateral movement of the car.

4. In a two part car bolster having a lower main part and an upper secondary part in which one of said parts is channel shaped and the other part flts between the channel flanges, springs for supporting one part on the other part, a spring seat, snubbing means frictionally engaging the flanges, and rollers between said means and the seat.

5. In a two part car bolster, a channel shaped lower main part with upwardly extending flanges, a secondary upper part fitting between said flanges and having a slanting bottom surface at each end, spring means for supporting the upper on the lower part, a spring seat, and means supported on the seat frictionally engaging the flanges and indirectly engaging the slanting surface.

6. The device of claim 5 in which the means is a shoe having a triangular vertical cross section.

7. The device of claim 5 in which transverse rollers are carried between said means and the seat.

8. In a car bolster, a channel shaped primary part having upwardly extending flanges, a secondary part spring supported in said primary part and having an end vertically movable between the flanges, shoes wedgingly engaging the said end and slidingly engaging the flanges with vertical frictional engagement to check the shifting of the said end relative to the flanges.

9. The device of claim 8 in which the shoes have limited lateral frictional engagement to check lateral shifting of said end relative to the flanges.

10. In a car bolster, a main part having upwardly extending guides, a, secondary part spring supported on said main part between the guides, a plurality of means frictionally engaging the guides, and wedging members carried in part by said means for increasing the frictional engagement as the load on the secondary part increases.

11. The device of claim 10 in which the said plurality of means are pairs of shoes each in engagement with the inner side of one of the guides and each connected to a wedging member, said wedging members being between the secondary part and the supporting spring.

12. The device of claim 10 in which each end of the secondary part is supported by a set of springs, part of said means consisting of a pair of alined shoes engaging opposite inner surfaces of the guides, wedging surfaces on the secondary part coacting with said members for transmitting vertical pressure on the bolster to horizontal pressure between the shoes and. the guides.

13. In an anti-oscillating device, a channel flanged bolster, a load carrying shoe adapted to f-rictionally engage a flange of the bolster to dampen rocking, a liner between the shoe and flange and embedded in the latter to prevent relative movement between the liner and the flange as the shoe slides across the liner.

14. In combination, a two piece bolster, the top section of which has vertical and lateral movement relative to the lower section, and snubbing means to dampen both vertical and lateral motion of the upper section, said means having a dampening effect varying with the amplitude'of the vertical motion of the upper part of the bolster.

15. A two part car bolster consisting of a lower part for engaging the side frames of a car truck, an upper part for engaging the car body, load supporting spring means carried by one of said parts, a spring seat, and load responsive snubbing means above the spring seat and constantly engaging the lower part of the bolster.

16. A two part car bolster consisting of a lower part for engaging the side frames of a car truck, an upper part, load springs seated on the lower part, a spring seat resting on said load spring and snubbing means to engage frictionally a vertical surface of the lower part of the bolster between said seat and said upper part.

17. A two part bolster in which the lower part has vertical flanges between which the upper part is received, spring means between thetwo parts, and load responsive snubbing means en gaging said vertical flanges. I

18. A two part bolster in which the lower part has vertical flanges between which the upper part is received, spring means between the two parts, and snubbing means engaging said vertical flanges with a pressure in proportion to the load on the upper part of the bolster.

19. A two part'bolster consisting of a lower part and an upper part, spring means between the two parts for supporting the upper part on the lower part, a corrugated spring cap supported by said springs, a corrugated snubber shoe supporting the upper part of the bolster, and lateral motion rollers in said corrugations and positioned between the snubber shoe and the spring cap.

ERNEST G. GOODWIN. 

